Raiders of the Lost Tablet of Phos

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Subject: Raiders of the Lost Tablet of Phos Mon 27 Jun 2016 - 5:28

The Lost Tablet of PhosDeep into the Sands of Revelation laid Phos. In all the Realms, no city was as blessed with wisdom and knowledge, as the Hyerophantis Order toiled in its granite temple and recorded the knowledge glimpsed from the light of Hysh on stone tables. The city was first lost to Nagash’s armies and then pillaged by the roaming hordes of Chaos. Yet, it is said that one last Tablet is still hidden in the sand swept ruins of Phos, one that holds secrets so powerful they could turn the tide of the Realmgates War. It is Skargat’s Ironforged Ogors that the Gilded Hand Elders have entrusted with retrieving the Lost Tablet. With it, the Gilded Hand’s Free Companies will have the power to retake the lost Venythian outposts from any interloper, or so it is believed.

The Obelisk's Secrets"Get movin' you scum!" bellowed Skargat, bashing his axe flat on the neck of the nearest Ogor. "The hoomies said something about reading some stuff on the Obelisk of Tahaluk. The sooner we get there, the sooner we'll get some new pieces of iron for our collection!"

Shaking his head, Steve 'Seagull' sneaked away to find a high spot from where to survey the ruins. He couldn't understand why the Elders had assigned him to Skargat's expedition and he made no effort to hide his dislike for the ogors.

"And they're headed for the Obelisk...good, we'll also get a few extra suits of armour! Charge lads!"

As the Ironforged rushed forward, the flashy orruks spread wide to encircle the ogors.

From his hiding place, Steve rained arrows in the melee, while Skargat and his lads bashed and cut left and right. The orruks couldn't stand the Ironforged stamped and where soon sent realing from where they add come.

From the distance, Steve spied the orruk shaman intent on studying the Obelisk's inscriptions and then running away laughing gutturally. The Ironforged held the battle field, but maybe they had been to late?

El Doctoro turned the dirt-covered metallic item over in his hands and squinted at it. He brushed some more of the dust off it and said “Hmmmmm”.

The other Rotmoons gathered around him had presented a small pile of found objects from their last expedition for his assessment. Most had been discarded as junk but three had made the cut for closer examination. The three members of the crew that found those particular objects tried to hide smug grins.

“Dis one may be one the eight fragments of the Agony Portal… or it might be a bit of one of them duardin flying machines. Hard to tell, I’ll have to look it up.”

“Such a perfect day for a fight.” said Alunzo da Leeva as he looked at the flawlessly clear blue sky, high above the weather-worn ruins of Phos. “I do hope we have one.”

“Oh, I think there is a good chance, my dear Kapitán.” said El Doctoro “Look here…” the Shaman pointed down the long, ruined street with his skull-topped ebony staff: a small group of large Ogors approached.

~~~

Turn 1

Both forces ran towards the central obelisk. The Tyrant led the way and the Ogres got there first but the Orruks swamped them. The Orruk Privateers injured the Tyrant but he cut down a half-dozen of them in retaliation. The Halfling Master Chef fired on the orruks from the heights of the ruins but the shots ricocheted off Da Leeva’s armour.

Laurels: 1 to Rotmoons, 3 to Ironforged.

Turn 2

The Tyrant and the Ogors curb-stomped the Rotmoon Boyz then turned on Kapitán Da Leeva. When he went down the Ogor, Grots and El Doctoro the Shaman conceded the battlefield to the Ironforged.

Game 2Battleplan: Cast Adrift from Quest for Ghal MarazThe Orruks have the Tablet of Phos and need to protect it from the Ogors while a sand storm is approaching.Orruks: His Head is Mine! (General doubles attacks vs enemy general)Ogors: Grim Determination (Ignore wounds & Mortal Wounds on roll of 6)

The horizon was darkened as a sandstorm a mile high rolled inexorably across the desert toward the ruins of Phos. Lightning crackled and flashed in the churning lead edge of the stormfront giving the whole a hideously unnatural internal light. Out of the encroaching darkness a band of Ogors hurtled across the sands, into the teeth of the waiting Rotmoons.

The Ironforged Ogors were fleeing from the storm and racing the Rotmoons to the location of the Tablet - the Orruks were going to try to slow them down.

~~~

Turn 1One orruk privateer was killed by the Halfling Hotpot - a lucky ranging shot perhaps.The Ogor Tyrant was befuddled by the Mystical ruins and stood pondering the ancient carvings when he should have been running!

Turn 2Trollumbus the Troggoth vomited on and killed an Ogor BullThe Halfling Hotpot killed 8 orruk Boyz: They seemed to have their eye-in now!

The Ogor Tyrant was still trapped in the ruins (he stumbled on loose rubble as he tried to charge da Leeva)

Turn 3Hammerhead, the Rotmoon's Ogor Maneater, was killed by the Hotpot!

Turn 4The OgoreTyrant & Da Leeva fought one-on-oneThe Tyrant was sorely wounded but he still took down El KapitánThe Ogor Bulls reach safety of the ruins and were able to take shelter there as the sandstorm rolled in!

"Didn't I tell you so?" standing on an up-turned pot, Steve was sticking his chubby finger into Skargat's belly. "The orruk shaman led them to where the Tablet is!The Tyrant shuffled his iron-shod boots uncomfortably."And keep your pets away from my pots!" added the halfling bashing an inquisitive grot's head with a ladle. "Or you'll find them in the next stew!"A muffled laugh came from the nearby ogors."What are you laughin' at, you lot?" Skargat's backhand knocked an ogor unconscious. "Move! There's a sandstorm comin' and a few orruks to bash!"As the Ironforged marched forward, Skargat hung back, just outside the building where they had made camp.

Was the Tyrant nursing his wounded pride or was the heat playing tricks on him? Ste couldn't make it out as the Rotmoons came into view. The halfling turned to his Kitchen Crew. "Right lads! Let's give these big boys some cover!"

A Fellwater Troggoth and the Rotmoons' Meneater slit from the orruks and headed for the ogors. The boyz made it for the building where Skargat was still, inexplicably, lagging back.

As the Meneater unloaded his pistol on the Ironforged, the Troggoth charged forward. The ogors lost one of theirs, but under a rain of hot soup managed to disengage from the Troggoth and move forward.

Skargat finally recovered his senses and bursting out of the building slammed onto the orruks felled a good few with some well-placed axe swings.

Running away from the approaching sandstorm, Steve and the Kitchen Crew risked getting too close to the Troggoth. Yet, the brute run for the ogors. It looked like the orruk Warboss had instructed it well, thought Steve upervising another soup shot that got rid of the Rotmoons' Meneater.

With a bellow, Kaptain Alunzo charged Skargat, freeing the boyz to chase after the Ironforged.

The Troggoth catched up with the Ironforged, but as the sandstorm closed on them, the ogors tought better to rush for the Temple of Shemlek than to fight.

With the sandstorm raging around them, the ogors took shelter among th fallen pillars. Hours later, as Steve had told, they found the Tablet buried under the Temple's central stone.

The halfling and the ogors had reunited at the Temple of Shemlek, as planned, to decide who would carry the Tablet to safety.

Suddenly, a guttural taunt boomed through the ruins. Kaptain Alunzo and his Shaman El Doctoro were striding purposefully down the sand-swept plaza in front of the Temple. Not far away, the Rotmoons boyz piled through the pillars of the Gate of Mahalik.

"You better split up and run! I'll try to slow them down" snapped Steve while notching an arrow onto his master crafted bow. "Skargat! Remember that I've lost my men in the sandstorm! You better make their sacrifice worth!"

With the Warboss and the Shaman hot on their trail, the Ironforged rushed forwards.

On the other side of the Temple, Skargat felt safe with his precious cargo, when suddenly the heat shimmers in front of him coalesced into the shapes of the boyz that had crossed the Gate of Mahalik.

Bellowing, the orruks charged the Tyrant.

Skargat swiftly dealt with the mob and moved to rejoin the Ironforged on the edges of ruined Phos. The Tablet was almost safe.

And then, bullets whistled by as the Rotmoons' Meneater jumped out of his hiding place.

The grots that had laid in ambush with him fell to the befuddling influence of the mystical monument.

The Meneater charged Skargat just as Kaptain Alunzo and El Doctoro caught up with the Ironforged.

The combats were brief, but with the boyz recovering from the Tyrant's bashing there was no other choice than to mount a last defence within the walls of the Palace of Ramehelik.

Game 3Battleplan: The Hidden Artefact from Balance of PowerThe Ogors have to get the Tablet off the board. The model selected (in secret) to carry it must get within 6” of the opposite board edge while no enemies are within 3” of it.Command AbilitiesOrruks: Encircle - one or more units may be held in reserve off table and enter play 6” from one of the board edges.Ogors: Rear Guard

~~~

Da Leeva and El Doctoro pounded across the desert sands in pursuit of the Ogor band, while the rest of the Rotmoons crew hung around the Realmgate, waiting for the signal from their Kapitán .

The stylish Kapitán paused and waved at his crew, who about-faced and charged through the magical portal!

The Orruk Privateers appeared out of a mirage-like heat shimmer and immediately fell upon the Ogor Tyrant.

The Tyrant swiftly dealt with all of the impetuous Orruks, and hardly broke a sweat!

.. and the same thing happened to Hammerhead, the Rotmoons Maneater!

~~~

The Rotmoons stopped the Ogors from getting away but were not able to recover the Tablet of Phos: A draw!

Game 4Battleplan: Spellbreakers from Balance of PowerThe Ogors have the Tablet and are about to perform the ritual to activate it. The Rotmoons realise the danger of this and attempt to destroy the Tablet before the ritual is complete!

Dusty beams of sunlight slanted in through the pillars as El Doctoro explored the ruined temple. The Shaman came across a panel of hieroglyphs that were not as weather worn as the rest and paused to decipher them. He adjusted the coloured glass lenses that protected his weak eyes from the bright sunlight in Phos and his lips moved as he read…

With a mounting feeling of dread he realised he was reading the last entry in the chronicles of ancient Phos. The text described the dire fate of the writers of a powerful magical tablet and that the same destiny would await anyone who tried to harness the power bound within it.

He ran to the balcony overlooking the Palace and yelled down to Kapitán Alunzo and the rest of the Rotmoon:

“We have to destroy the Tablet of Phos! Don’t touch it, or even look at it more than you have to! Break it! Smash it to dust!”

~~~

The Rotmoons advanced on the Ironforged stronghold in the ruined Palace, where the Ogors had stashed the Tablet of Phos.

Orruks smash into Ogors!

The Ogor battleline buckles and gives a little!

The Orruks got carried away with their unprecedented good luck and pressed the Ogors hard, determined to wipe them out...

Meanwhile the Halfling Chef read from the Tablet and a gathering stormcloud overhead unleashed a wave of magical energies that smashed the Orruks, and blasted the Privateers back through the Realmgate!

~~~

If only they had attacked the building & the Tablet of Phos they might have won.

Major Victory to the Ironforged Ogors in the game and the campaign (with 3 wins and a draw!)

"They're coming!" cried Steve as he rushed into the Palace of Ramehelik. "Give me the Tablet, let's see if it can be of any use". Snatching the artefact from Skargat's hands the halfling rushed for the Palace terrace.

The ogors lined up in front of the Palace main entrance, ready to take the orruks' charge.

And then the Rotmoons were upon them, reinforced by a bunch of Fellwater Troggoths that had just emerged from the nearby Realmgate.

The combat raged furiously, the Ironforged smashing and hacking orruks and troggoths alike. On the Palace terrace, Steve frantically tried to crack the inscriptions on the Tablet. Their initial impetus spent, the Ironforged started to fall to the Rotmoons' overwhelming numbers. And suddenly, Steve devised the first syllable of the tablet incantation. On a voice not of his own, he chanted the ancient spell and a wave of rippling light washed forward, repelling the Rotmoons through the Realmgate.

As the blinding light faded away, Steve realised they had won. The Tablet was theirs and the orruks were gone. But, with its power used, was the Tablet still worth to the Gilded Hand Elders?

Thanks VK!This mini campaign was designed to fit into the remaining time before GW's Season of War campaign started. We picked the scenarios in advance and sketched out an overall narative (with options for different game results). It was intended to be short but intense: the kind of thing you could play out in a day, if you had the time.